Golf ball and tee setting apparatus

Abstract

A portable and manually operated golf ball teeing unit is disclosed for use in permitting a golfer to position a golf ball and its supporting tee without bending over. A pair of arms are pivotally mounted at the base of the unit. These arms are spring biased to engage and support a ball on top of a tee. After the tee is pushed into the ground, a hand-operated camming rod pivots the arms against the spring bias to release the ball and tee.

I claim: 
     
       1. A unit for use in teeing a golf ball incident to driving a tee into the ground, said unit comprising in combination: an elongated main frame element, said frame element includes a tubular member having a U-shaped mounting bracket fixed to its lower end, a knob fixed to its upper end and a pair of aligned, axially extending guide slots formed adjacent its upper end;   a retaining mechanism mounted adjacent a lower end of said main frame element, said mechanism including a pair of arms supported for relative movement between an adjacent retaining position and a remote releasing position, said arms having upper end and lower end portions, said upper end portions are supported by pivot pins bridging between legs of said mounting bracket and have facing cam follower surfaces, said lower end portions define recess means on facing surfaces thereof cooperating when said arms are in said retaining position for retaining a tee to extend generally coaxially with said main frame element with a head end of said tee supported by said arms and a pointed end of said tee projecting outwardly beyond said arms for insertion into the ground and for retaining a golf ball in essentially centered engagement with said head end of said tee, said lower end portions when said arms are in said retaining position limiting the extent of insertion of said pointed end of said tee into the ground by engagement with the ground, said arms when in said release position permitting said tee and golf ball to be removably inserted between said arms, and spring devices surrounding said pivot pins and engaging said arms and said mounting bracket for normally biasing said arms towards said retaining position; and   handle mechanism movably carried by said main frame element for controlling movement of said arms between said retaining and releasing positions, said handle mechanism including an operating member slidably received within said tubular member, a handle fixed to an upper end of said operating member by a mounting pin slidably received within said guide slots and a foot fixed to a lower end of said operating member, said foot having a lower surface arranged to engage with said golf ball when retained between said arms for applying pressure thereto for driving said pointed end of said tee into the ground and said foot having cam surfaces arranged to slidably engage with said cam follower surfaces for moving said arms towards said releasing position against the bias of said spring devices, when said foot is moved away from said golf ball and towards said mounting bracket incident to sliding movement of said operating member within said tubular member in a direction towards said knob.   
     
     
       2. A unit according to claim 1, which additionally includes a leg having one end thereof pivotally supported adjacent an upper end of said main frame element for movement between a stored position in which it lies adjacent said main frame element and a unit support position, means for releasably retaining said leg in said stored position and means for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of said leg from said stored position to define said unit support position, said means for limiting movement of said leg is defined by a free end of said one end of said leg arranged to removably abut against said main frame element, said leg having an opposite end shaped to facilitate insertion thereof into the ground upon movement of said leg from said stored position. 
     
     
       3. A unit according to claim 1, wherein plate means are fixed to said lower end portions of said arms to selectively control the extent of insertion of said tee into the ground.